Brussels sprouts have made a comeback due to being cheap and nutritious. Photo: Envato Elements.
If you wanted to torture me as a child, all you had to do was place one or two smelly, soggy, bitter little cabbage-like blobs on my plate that were cooked to the point their green colouring turned grey.
Yes, I’m talking about Brussels sprouts (which we called Brussel sprouts, for some reason).
They are, and have always been, my least favourite vegetable.
I vividly recall after eye surgery as a child, with both eyes patched and unable to see my hospital dinner, there was an immediate reaction when a Brussels sprout hit my mouth. That sprout ended up all over the plate in no time.
Fast forward to today, and this once maligned brassica is being hailed as Australia’s new favourite vegetable.
In the latest edition of Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook, data shows a massive growth in sales, with a 53 per cent surge in the 2022-23 period and 25 per cent of Australians now purchasing them.
According to recent reports, the comeback is thanks to the vegetable being highly nutritious and, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, a cheap option.
It seems a sad day indeed when we have to resort to eating sprouts though.
As someone who was practically traumatised by these green menaces in my childhood, I’d prefer you served me up bread and dripping – which was what we were threatened with if we didn’t eat the green balls.
As a child, my mother insisted on boiling Brussels sprouts within an inch of their life and to the point there was no nutrition left in them.
Despite the vigorous boiling, somehow they retained their sulphurous smell, leading to a host of jokes at the dinner table about who let Fluffy off the leash.
In fact, one of the reasons they’re making their culinary comeback is because this little superfood is so high in vitamins, antioxidants and, in particular, fibre.
Which means your vegetable bill may go down, but your toilet paper costs will likely rise.
Someone online even insisted that if Brussels sprouts were making a return to Aussie dinner plates, then tomato sauce sales were going to skyrocket.
Suddenly, they don’t feel like such good value for money anymore.
Let’s face it, Brussels sprouts are the Vegemite of the vegetable world — you either love them or you hate them. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
And most of the argument comes down to whether your first experience with them was as a child being tortured by your mother or grandmother’s overcooked slop, or whether you got to enjoy them as an adult at a fancy restaurant or via a TikTok recipe that dripped with all the cuteness of a baby cabbage dressed in delicious flavours.
It’s the latter who rave about their sweet and nutty flavour and crisp texture when cooked just right.
Online, endless recipes are being shared of using them raw, roasted, steamed, sauteed and in soups.
Some recommend shaving them into a salad. Who are these people?
Others pair them with onion and bacon, or shredded apple and bacon, or even feta cheese.
Another recommends cutting the little morsels in half and topping them with a sprinkling of olive oil, breadcrumbs and finely shaved parmesan, then popping them into a nice warm oven.
There’s even been a sprout-filled chocolate developed.
It’s at this point you’re starting to lure me in …
Except that there’s those, like myself, who still have flashbacks to childhood dinners where these green orbs of doom ruined perfectly good meals.
So, whether you’re team Brussels sprouts and declared your undying love for these divisive little veggies or part of the group whose mother put your unfinished dinner plate in the fridge to eat them tomorrow because “you are not wasting perfectly good food”, there’s no denying these tiny cabbage-looking veggies are having their moment in the sun.
Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to give them another try — preferably with enough bacon and cheese to disguise the nightmares of dinners past.
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